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	Brooklyn Pastor Says Con Man Stole Church Deeds Newsday May 11, 2008 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--churchscam0511may11,0,7072396.story NEW YORK - A con man posing as a parishioner forged deeds to a Brooklyn church, then used the false documents to sell the property to a developer, the church's pastor said. Derrick Jones, 43, used notaries public and a title company to fool the City Register's office to record the forged deeds starting in 2004, said Walter Dunlap, pastor and founder of the Free Mission Action Movement Church. The register's office does not review documents for authenticity. "We helped him, we gave him food and shelter, he would come by with his wife and leave his kids here for baby-sitting, and then he did this: He forged my name on deeds and stole the church and the land," Dunlap told the Daily News. "What he did is so wicked." The church, founded in 1979, sits on four lots in the East New York section of Brooklyn. It is now embroiled in a property battle with the developer and the case is pending in Brooklyn Supreme Court. Jones apparently sold the property for $50,000 to the Vasilios Corp., run by Thankam Vasilakos of Queens, the News reported. Vasilakos, planned to develop the property into apartments, and is suing the church and the title company, claiming she owns the space. Calls to her attorney were not returned. Jones lists separate addresses on the deed forms with phone numbers, but the numbers were out of service, and he could not be located at the addresses he provided. Prosecutors say deed forgery in order to sell property or obtain mortgages is increasing. "All you need is notarized signatures on a deed form," said Richard Farrell, a prosecutor in the Brooklyn district attorney's office who specializes in real estate fraud. "Once that deed is filed, you can obtain a mortgage on the property, you can rent it, you can sell it, whatever. There are hundreds of cases of deed fraud in the city every year." The register's office is tying to improve fraud safeguards, said spokesman Owen Stone.
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